Japan

JAPAN RELIEF/JEN SITUATION REPORT
 

PERIOD OF REPORT: 12 MARCH– 19 APRIL 2011

1. BENEFICIARIES

• Approximately 150,000 people were reached by JEN’s activities during this period
• Evacuees in Ishinomaki City are the primary target groups of JEN
• Other non-target groups that you are providing assistance to:
• Evacuees in own house without food stocks and elderly at nursery houses

2. ACTIVITIES
1) Material Distribution
The following food and non-food items were delivered to evacuation centers and homes for the elderly.

2) Sludge Removal Volunteer Dispatch
Supported by many volunteers, JEN has been helping remove rubble and sludge from the houses in the Watanoha area, where most houses and buildings are still covered with mud brought by the tsunami. 95 individual volunteers are participating or have participated in sludge removal activities in Ishinomaki City. 47 corporate volunteers will be dispatched this weekend (23-24 April).

3) Soup Kitchen Volunteer Dispatch
An initial soup kitchen service was provided at Takasago Junior High School, an evacuation center in Sendai City by JEN staffs in mid-March.
Groups of 5-7 volunteers have been dispatched to Ishinomaki City and provided constant soup kitchen services of 100 meals for lunch and 50 for dinner since 5 April to those without food stocks at their own house. This effort is expected to continue until the end of May.

Photo: JEN Sludge/Debris Removal Teams (JEN Copyright)

4) Sludge removal tool kit distribution.
1,000 sludge removal tool kits were distributed to local community centers as well as to the volunteer coordination body in Ishinomaki City. They are fully being utilized in above mentioned sludge removal activities. Contents of the sets are as following.

3. GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS
Miyagi Prefecture
Ishinomaki City, Sendai City, Tagajo City, Onagawa Town, Higashi-Matsushima Town
Fukushima Prefecture
Iwaki City

4. PLANNED FUTURE ACTIVITIES
These mid/long-term projects are subject to change according to the needs assessment as well as the reconstruction strategy of the Japanese government.

1. Temporary Shelter Project
The plan is to import trailer homes from Europe and use them as temporary shelters for those who lost houses until the government prepares the permanent houses. Usually, such temporary shelter construction is done by the government and it is actually ongoing, however, the number of temporary shelters required is too high for the government to catch up.

2. Rubble Clearance by Local Companies as Revival of Local Business
There are huge piles of rubble in the affected areas and clearance work has started, but the local waste management companies cannot participate as they lost their resources due to the Tsunami. We would assist such companies by renting heavy duty trucks in order for them to participate in this clearance work so that they can resume their business and keep the employees who are about to lose their jobs after the earthquake.

Photo: JEN Soup Kitchen Volunteers (JEN Copyright)

3. Community Kitchen for Psycho-Social Care of Evacuees
JEN established a few community kitchens where the evacuees cook together every day. Through working together and chatting to each other of their own Tsunami experience while cooking, it is aimed to help reducing evacuees’ stress and share a strong tie among them. JEN will incorporate entertaining events such as mini-concerts, massage sessions, and film-showing in these spaces within the evacuation centers.